Wednesday, 23 April 2014

Since 2012, I have committed to an ambitious, challenging, and incredibly rewarding endeavor, the crux of my career as an artist: I wish to fill all corners of the world with flowers, making a beautiful bouquet to be shared by every nation. This project is called theLove & Peace Campaign.

I began by sculpting large poppies out of fiberglass and planting them in public spaces around the globe, from England and Italy to Singapore and China. In January of this year, I introduced my first water lily sculpture to the world, premiering in Beijing at the Today Art Museum. These flowers, I hope, will give people the world over common ground for conversation, offering sanctuary from life's chaos.

I am blessed to have found support for the Campaign in some remarkable individuals.Peking University's Professor Peng Feng and Kathie Bolognese of the US National Committee for UN Women, for instance, have been invaluable partners in carrying the vision of Love & Peace into public view. Without the aid and faith of others, this dream could never be realized.

There are so many bright spirits who tirelessly pursue the promise of a better world for all. Today, few shine brighter than His Holiness Pope Francis, whose efforts to create a more inclusive and loving Church have echoed beyond the Catholic community - the world at large has been left better for it.

His Holiness recently stated, "...We are called to give witness with joy to this message: the gospel of life, the gospel of light, of hope and of love, because the message of Jesus is this: life, light, hope, love." The Love & Peace Campaign was born of this spirit, an offering of caritas to open hearts.

I was moved by His Holiness' words, and wrote him the following letter, which I now share with you:

Your Holiness, My name is Ana Tzarev, and I am an artist who has been deeply touched and moved by your words. We share the same age - I was born in Croatia in 1937 - as well as the same belief: that each person has a responsibility to leave the world a better place than they found it, no matter how big or small our contribution may be. Your Holiness, you and I have unfortunately seen the opposite for much of our lives: we have seen leaders who have had the power to do immense good instead lie and steal from those who had little; we have seen too many wars fought, and lost too many husbands, sons, mothers, and daughters along with them; we have seen flags, boundaries, and perhaps most sadly, religions, divide us and convince us we are all different, somehow. This is why your words at St Peter's Square touched me deeply. They are so true, and so deeply needed today. Several years ago I started the Love & Peace Campaign. I wanted to use my art to bring people together. So I sculpted two three-and-a-half metre flowers and sent them around the world. I hoped to remind people of the beauty of the world we share, to show them that we all have the ability to appreciate the simple wonder of a flower. I wanted each viewer to remember that regardless of our colour, country, or creed, we all speak the same language of love, peace, and beauty. My flowers have travelled to London, Prague, Singapore, Beijing, Venice, and New York.The response to my flowers has been uplifting and inspiring. People post photos on our website, where they stand in front of the sculpture and are smiling, happy, and together. It is a wonderful feeling to know that these flowers helped people find a reason to pause, smile, and be present in that moment. These flowers don't change the world, of course, but they can change a day. They have not brought world peace, but they have brought a lot of smiles. It is some of the work I am most proud of... Your Holiness, by raising your voice, you have inspired me to lift my own... I pray we are one day able to work together to share the love and help inspire the peace our world so desperately needs - and deserves. With sincerest admiration, Ana Tzarev

I have been painting full time for 25 years.

A true ‘citizen of the world,’ Ana Tzarev’s work is edified by decades of
extensive travel. She has taken residence in bustling Asian cities,
remote African villages, and the pristine landscapes of Australia,
immersing herself in cultures and customs to translate them onto canvas.
Her paintings are borne of that same lineage that produced the
sketchbooks of great explorers—logs kept to chart unknown realms
and share the wonders they possessed. Art critic Edward Lucie-Smith
describes her relationship with her work: “Ana Tzarev is a dynamic and
visionary painter because she has a constant desire to get it all down,
to recreate what she encounters in her own visual language.”

Tzarev’s artistic sensibilities have been honed by the histories of
those she encounters: through studies of the linear, organic qualities
that comprise Japanese woodcuts and the bold and distinctive textures of
the Masai textiles, she has developed an undeniably unique style. With exuberant, frenetic swathes of paint, the artist creates
pieces that function equally as documentary of tradition and the
capturing of ephemeral, universal moments; Tzarev’s joyful approach to
art enables her to encapsulate the emotions that preserve them, exuding
the very essence of life that makes these subjects so compelling.
Renowned art critic Dr. Alexander Borovsky eloquently describes her
style: “Ana Tzarev has learned how to ‘capture’ the depictive motif very
quickly. She has developed a powerful gestural style with an energy not
unlike that of the post-impressionist era: an open color, a
three-dimensional brush stroke—or rather, a fiery haze of strokes
drifting optically in space; a triumph of the de-reflective approach,
driven towards capturing and mastering nature’s signals.”

The
appeal of Ana Tzarev’s vibrant and expressive work is apparent in the
breadth of exhibitions that have showcased her art worldwide. Her
paintings have been featured in galleries, museums, and public spaces
across Europe and Asia, including the State Russian Museum in St.
Petersburg, the Gildo Pastor Centre in Monaco, the Santralistanbul
Museum of Contemporary Art in Istanbul, Cite Internationale des Arts in
Paris, the Saatchi Gallery in London, the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum, and
the Museo Diocesano di Venezia Sant’ Apollonia in Venice.

2013
is slated to be a significant year for Ms. Tzarev and her art. In
January, her works premiered at the National Museum of Rome in an
exhibition entitled “The Life of Flowers”, curated by famed art
historian Marco Tonelli. A large collection of works from the artist’s
Exposed series was also selected for inclusion in Venice’s 55th
Biennale. In 2014, she is poised to debut her paintings in China at
Beijing’s Today Art Museum.

The motivating force behind Ana
Tzarev’s work is the notion that art can be utilized as a powerful tool
for progress. From 2011 to 2013, she has shown her support for youth
arts through From Ana Tzarev, With Love, a joint workshop-exhibition
encouraging creative collaboration between children in Istanbul, London,
Paris, and New York. In 2012, she premiered an ongoing global
sculptural exploration, entitled Love & Peace, which has garnered
worldwide attention and acclaim. Conceived as a conduit for conversation
among all people, the massive floral sculptures of Love & Peace
have been installed in London, Shenzhen, and New York, with plans to
place more of these flowers in cities across the world. Tzarev wishes to
foster feelings of unity and the bond of one community through art, in
all the diverse ethnic groups that comprise the Earth.